Emily in ParisSeason 3 is extra messy. The show that began as a seemingly harmless escapist fantasy about an American girl living her French dream is now something else entirely. Featuring love triangles, cheating, lying, and even unwanted pregnancies, the show kicks the drama up to an eleven, cementing its dubious reputation as one of Netflix’s biggest guilty pleasures.
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The characters fromEmily in Parisare hardly the only ones on television who love messy drama. Many other shows feature insatiable figures who love and live for the mess they cause. Whether scheming, manipulating, lying, or cheating, these characters can’t get enough; the messier it gets, the better.
‘Emily in Paris’ (2020-)
Emily in Parisis a fashion lover’s dream. The show has beautiful scenery and a cast of even more beautiful people in gorgeous outfits worrying over trivial matters. However, the show has become increasingly messier starting in season 2, with nearly every character living for the chaos they provoke.
From the indecisive Emily — who insists on spending time with her friend’s boyfriend, who she is also supposedly in love with — to the tumultuous Camille — who cheats on her boyfriend and agrees to marry him despite distrusting him — everyone in the show is an agent of chaos. And that’s without mentioning Sylvie, the woman who lives and breathes mess.
‘Gilmore Girls’ (2000 - 2007)
Despite its reputation as the ultimateshow to cozy up to during the fall season,Gilmore Girlsis surprisingly messy. The eponymous mother-daughter duo is selfish and unexpectedly destructive, wreaking havoc in everyone’s lives without much care.
Lorelai agrees to marry Max on a whim and promptly cancels the engagement on a similar impulse. She enters a relationship with her father’s business partner and spends years cultivating an on-again-off-again with Christopher. For her part, Rory dumps Dean for Jess before returning to him while he’s already married to Lindsay before entering her highly toxic relationship with Logan. Stars Hollow is a messy place, indeed.
‘Glee’ (2009 - 2015)
The show about a band of high school outsiders bonding to form a Glee Club spent as much time dealing with teen drama as it did covering Top 40 hits. Nearly every character inGleewas a drama king and queen, including the teachers – especially the teachers.
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McKinley High had it all: cheating boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, and wives; teenagers getting high on vitamins; fake pregnancies; real pregnancies; people outing each other on the hallways; Sue Sylvester marrying herself.Gleewas chaos by way of high school karaoke, and fans lived for it.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (2005 -)
Grey’s Anatomyis more over-the-top than messy, but the characters are still enamored with the drama they cause. The hospital has seen everything from hostage situations to patients with toxic blood poisoning the doctors in the OR. However, the characters still find enough time to deal with their messy love lives.
Meredith is back in the saddle after the tragic death of her husband.Her love story with Derekwas convoluted enough to sustain eleven seasons of drama, but she had more than enough energy left in her to hold eight more seasons. Television has many overblown dramas, butGrey’s Anatomyhas a special place in the pantheon of excess – and mess.
‘The Flight Attendant’ (2020 -)
Cassandra Bowden is one of television’s best characters. A self-destructive, self-sabotaging flight attendant struggling with substance addiction, Cassie is one of the best antiheroes on TV and a hugely compelling and engaging figure.
Mad props must go toKaley Cuocofor her tour-de-force performance, which went a long way in making Cassie relatable and sympathetic. However, the fact remains that she is one hot mess. Cassie is attracted to chaos, spending most ofThe Flight Attendant’s two seasons fighting with her instincts to complicate everything. And whilethe ending hints at a new beginning for Cassie, she had to hit rock bottom first to put her act together.
‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ (2021 -)
The Sex Lives of College Girlsis one ofthe best shows currently streaming on HBO Max, and more people should be talking about it. The plot is fairly standard – four girls form an unlikely bond while rooming together in college –, but the execution brings out the best in its talented cast and captures the Gen Z vibe with a lighthearted yet raunchy tone.
Most of the show’s storylines deal with the girls' love lives. And, considering they’re in college, things get really messy really fast. However, there’s an undeniable charm in the girls' dilemmas; their mess isn’t harmful or problematic to anyone but themselves. The show is a coming-of-age comedy to a tee, and growing up means making a ton of mistakes.
‘Gossip Girl’ (2007 - 2012)
Most teen shows feature a heavy dose of drama, but it’s often against the characters' wishes. NotGossip Girl. These kidslovethe drama; they actively pursue it, using the eponymous blogger in their schemes and power plays, wreaking massive havoc and leaving a trail of destruction.
The Upper East Side is a world of immense wealth and privilege, and the kids inGossip Girluse it to get away with nearly everything. Perhaps that’s why they love mess so much; they know that, no matter what they do, they will always come out on top. The show was the ultimate guilty pleasure when it premiered in 2007, and even if time hasn’t been exactly kind to it,Gossip Girlremains a precious gem of debauchery.
‘Élite’ (2018 -)
Teen shows will sometimes deal with the usual drama. Perhaps someone stole someone else’s boyfriend, or a friendship ended because of lies and deceit. Then there’sÉlite, the show where there’s a new murder every school year.
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Éliteis an ode to excess, an over-the-top, unsubtle mess of a show that becomes increasingly nonsensical with each new season. The kids inÉlitelive for the chaos, going so far as to actively provoke it to entertain themselves. These teenagers aren’t content with throwing parties or disobeying their parents; instead; they’re into threesomes, incest, murder plots, and outsmarting the police at every turn. “Messy” doesn’t even begin to cover it.
‘Never Have I Ever’ (2020 -)
Few characters are as messy asNever Have I Ever’s Devi Vishwakumar. She is arrogant, insecure, somewhat self-destructive, reckless, and often insensitive. And yet, she is one of the most interesting characters on television, a flawed heroine for the internet age.
Never Have I Everis a brilliant show and one of Netflix’s biggest gems, largely thanks to Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s performance as Devi. She is a character who empowers people to try, make mistakes, get things wrong, and start over. Devi loves mess – heck, sheisthe mess incarnate. However, that’s what makes her fascinating and relatable. More characters should be as unapologetic as her.
‘Sex and the City’ (1998 - 2004)
Carrie Bradshaw is the original queen of mess. Whether chasing after an emotionally unavailable man who breaks her heart one too many times or cheating on a genuinely good guy with said emotionally unavailable man, Carrie redefined what being messy is all about.
Sex and the Citybroke barriers and defied conventions, and a huge part of its success was due to having a hot mess like Carrie as the protagonist. Much like New York itself, la Bradshaw is self-centered, self-sabotaging, loud, chaotic, and unstoppable, a force of nature whose mess came from within. And while many hate her for it, it’s undeniable that television has never had nor will ever have another Carrie Bradshaw.
